Thank you @jea48 for your post with comments from Ralph, Nelson, and OLC.
I had a couple of questions about Ralph’s post yesterday but did not see an answer and then the thread seemed to spiral down a rabbit hole. Ralph’s response from your post covers my questions and Nelson’s comments and linked information address the amplifier end of things. BTW, OLC is posting again at Audio Asylum since he apparently no longer has conflicts of interest between his day job and posting on a public forum.
My questions from yesterday;
1. What characteristics of a power cord would affect voltage (i.e., cause a voltage drop) - is that primarily a function of resistance and wire gauge, or something else, and
2. What characteristics of a power cord would affect bandwidth?
Based on Ralph’s comments, it seems both the voltage drop and bandwidth issues are affected by the amount of current available to the power supply. This implies, bigger (heavier gauge) wire is better for PCs, and particularly when supplying power to large amplifiers, no? Both issues seem to be related to wire gauge size.
Shielding is another issue that comes up, with some believing PCs sound better when unshielded, which seems to contrast with the findings of OLC.
The connector thing makes sense that they should be substantial enough not to heat up upon use.
Therefore, it seems we are back to wire gauge, geometry, shielding, and connectors as being the factors affecting PC performance (notice I left out marketing, pixie dust, magic beads, and directionality (sorry Geoff)). Common sense would imply the PC should be at least as large as the household wire feeding the circuit (mine is 10 awg for 20A circuits and my DIY cords that feed two large mono amps are 7 awg). The conductors are twisted to reduce inductance, the cords are shielded to resist interference, and the connectors are robust and use actual copper for the connection. Don’t forget the quality of the wall outlets everything is plugged into. Somebody mentioned a direct connection rather than using an IEC and I agree. I had a direct connection on an amp Steve McCormack upgraded for me, but later I added an IEC so I could try different PCs.
The possibility of making DIY PCs from NM Cable (i.e., Romex) is interesting, particularly as Ralph believes that cable works well for power distribution. I looked into why Romex is not approved for use outside of the wall and the primary reason the code doesn’t allow it is that the covering is not considered robust enough to resist damage that might affect the wires - but it is suitable for the set it and forget it in-wall use. Another concern is that the large solid core wire in Romex may not be as resistant to multiple bending events. There is also some difference of opinion as to whether Romex can be used inside of conduit, with some seeming to think this is ok while others caution there could be a heat issue (inside of the conduit) that might affect the wire. Aside from those safety considerations, it might be fun to make up a couple of 10 awg Romex PCs to try on my big power amps - just to hear how they sound (but of course I would unplug them from the wall when not in use).
